Heart of Darkness

Guest Editorial by Douglas Siddoway

I skipped the inauguration ceremony. It wasn’t out of disrespect for the peaceful transfer of power—something that was stolen from us four years ago—but because the last thing I needed after too many mind-numbing years of Donald Trump’s malignancy was a full-throated preview of the cruelty, greed, rancor, and stupidity that is already defining his second term.

It being the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s birth, I instead spent the morning rereading Letter from a Birmingham Jail. If you haven’t read it, you should—not just because it’s an inspired expression of America’s hopes and unachieved dreams, but because it’s only a matter of time before the DEI police in Washington and the Idaho Legislature take it off the library shelves.

The contrast between King’s vision of an inclusive America that strives for decency, dignity and equality to bring about a fairer and more just society, and Trump’s bleak and cold portrayal of a dystopian America suffering from supposed problems that he and only he can fix was as stark as it is depressing. King wrote passionately of struggle and hope; Trump spoke falsely and narcissistically of grievance and retribution. It was the difference between lightness and darkness, of love and hate.

So forgive me, Governor Little (and all the other Republicans who have shamelessly hitched their wagons to Trump), for not sharing your gushing euphoria about the “excitement and hope that has overcome our great nation on this historic day.”

I see little hope in any of this from my vantage point—not when Trump’s overriding goal is to harness the power of the federal government to beat up the most vulnerable among us, criminally prosecute anyone who disagrees with him, eviscerate public education, threaten our important neighbors and trading partners with invasion and financial ruin, pardon the convicted insurrectionists who defiled the Capitol and the Constitution, and make patently dishonest promises to the ignorant populists who elected him, all the while obscenely enriching himself, Elon Musk and the other spineless tech oligarchs who have since sworn fealty to him.

Where is the excitement and euphoria in all of this, I ask? What good comes from demonizing people who happen not to read, think or express their love as he would like, and really only want to be left alone? How does arresting and deporting the thousands of people who do all the heavy lifting bolster Idaho’s agricultural economy or create opportunities for the those among us—many of them farmers, like me—who have been brainwashed by Fox News, Newsmax and social media into thinking Trump is actually going to improve their and their children’s lives? What does it say about the Republicans’ commitment to the rule of law when convicted cop-beaters like Stewart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio are set free to again spill their vileness and bile on our streets? Closer to home, where is the achievement in balancing the state budget off of the backs of rural public schools and the students who attend them?

In short, how much of this reckless nonsense do people of common decency have to endure before Republican leadership in Washington and Boise summon the courage to conclude, as Idaho’s Pamela Hemphill did in refusing to accept a pardon, that Trumpism in all its forms is not a hopeful and exciting awakening or a pathway to greatness, but a cult that is slowly and inexorably weakening our bonds and sucking the marrow and morality out of our shared lives?

I’m not holding my breath for a response and neither should you. Darkness has already descended upon us.

About the Author

Douglas Siddoway farms and practices law in Fremont County and occasionally thinks about running for governor.